Top Preschool Grads Less Likely to Land in Jail, More Likely to Work

Children who attended a top-quality preschool were less likely to land in prison, get depressed, lack health insurance and more likely to work, finish high school and go to college, a new University of Minnesota report found.

The research suggests a quality preschool has a broader impact than other federally funded social programs, such as full-day kindergarten, literacy efforts and drop-out prevention, says Professor Arthur Reynolds, a co-author of the report.

“These are quite substantial findings that really have not been shown for other types of social programs,” Reynolds said in an interview.

In fact, the study maintains that every dollar invested in this kind of education can return $10 in economic benefits.

“Because expenditures for the medical care and justice systems comprise roughly 20 percent of the gross domestic product, the potential cost savings to governments and taxpayers of early childhood prevention programs are considerable,” a summary of the study said.